2012 International V8 Supercars Championship
The 2012 International V8 Supercar Championship is an FIA sanctioned international motor racing series for the V8 Supercars. It is the fourteenth running of the V8 Supercar Championship Series and the sixteenth series in which V8 Supercars have contested the premier Australian touring car title. The championship began on 1 March at the Clipsal 500, with the Adelaide event returning to its place as the opening round, and will finish on 2 December at the Homebush Street Circuit. The 53rd Australian Touring Car Championship title was awarded to winner of the series by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport. Jamie Whincup and Triple Eight Race Engineering started the season as the defending drivers' and teams' champions. At the penultimate event of the season Whincup secured the defence of his championship. Towards the end of the season, Shane Van Gisbergen announced that he would be leaving V8 Supercars at the end of the 2012 season, not taking up his contract extension with Stone Brothers Racing. Race calendar The race calendar was released on 8 October 2011. Teams and drivers "Wildcard" entries Notes *For points-scoring purposes, Kelly Racing is recognised as two seperate entities: "Jack Daniel's Racing" for cars #7 and #15; and "Kelly Racing" for cars #11 and #51. *Greg Murphy was ruled out of the Symmons Plains round due to a back injury sustained during the 2012 Clipsal 500. Dunlop Series driver David Russell was used a replacement for the event. Two weeks before the round at Hidden Valley Raceway, Murphy suffered a relapse of his back injury and Kelly Racing announced that he would be forced to sit out until at least the Sandown 500 endurance race. David Russell was retained as Murphy's replacement for Hidden Valley, with 1997 Formula One World Champion Jacques Villeneuve joining the team for the Townsville, Queensland Raceway and Sydney Motorsport Park events. *The #23 wildcard entry will be prepared by Dunlop Series team Minda Motorsport and operated by Kelly Racing. It will only be raced in the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000 races. Team and driver changes *Fabian Coulthard left Walkinshaw Racing and joined Brad Jones Racing. *Jason Bargwanna left Brad Jones Racing and was unable to join another team. *Alex Davison was unable to secure a full-time drive for the 2012 season, and returned to the Australian Carrera Cup Championship. *Paul Dumbrell retired from full-time racing, joining Triple Eight Race Engineering as an endurance driver. *Lee Holdsworth left Holden team Garry Rogers Motorsport in October 2011, signing a three-year contract with the Ford-backed Stone Brothers Racing. *Russell Ingall moved from Paul Morris Motorsport to Walkinshaw Racing, replacing Fabian Coulthard. *Dick Johnson Racing expanded to three cars with Dean Fiore moving his Triple F Racing franchise to become a satellite team within DJR. Under the terms of arrangement, Fiore world continue to use the #12 from the Triple F Racing with Jim Beam sponsoring him and Steven Johnson, while James Moffat would acquire Norton as the major sponsor of the #18 car. DJR later announced a fourth car by securing a lease of a Paul Morris Motorsport owned Racing Entitlement Contract with Steve Owen being confirmed as the driver. *Warren Luff left Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport, citing the team's uncertain future and unstable management as the reasons for leaving. The team later acquired an ex-Triple Eight Commodore from Paul Morris Motorsport . Luff was replaced by Taz Douglas. *Former DTM, A1GP, Le Mans and Formula One test driver Alexandre Prémat joined Garry Rogers Motorsport, filling the seat left vacant by Lee Holdsworth. *Karl Reindler joined Kelly Racing after two seasons with Britek Motorsport. *David Reynolds left Kelly Racing. He later replaced Paul Dumbrell at Rod Nash Racing. *David Wall joined Brad Jones Racing after racing for the team as endurance co-driver during the 2011 season. *Jonathon Webb's Tekno Autosports switched from running Ford Falcons to Holden Commodores. The team will expand to a two-car operation, leasing one of the Racing Entitlement Contracts owned by Paul Morris Motorsport. West Australian driver Michael Patrizi joined the team after driving in the Carrera Cup in 2011. *The highly popular fantasy seriesV8 Supercars UR was founded and contested w Category:2012 in V8 Supercars Category:2012 in motorsport